New Look

Xander's self-styled hair

I found a shiny new thing! It's this blog template from Blogger!

I've been wanting the posts stretched out wider across the screen but that was not an option with the Simple template I was using. I think this one is pretty neat - so far.

If you are missing the nice pictures and lists and such from the sidebar, just put your cursor on the right hand side and you'll see a column of icons. Click on one of them and you will see that item.

Let me know if there is anything about this template that is annoying. I can change! :)

This Week's Goals

How did I do on last week's goals? Poorly. But I did something that amazed myself. That was fun. I finished a 30K race (that's 18.6 miles!) with friends who persuaded me to join them. We ran 2 minutes, walked 1 minute through pretty much the whole race. I am training for 5Ks and never imagined that I would do something this long. It is fun to know that you can do something you never thought you could do.

We also all got our hair cut (Xander, Nick, and me). We made firm plans for our Valentine party on February 9th. Xander did quite a bit of school work. (I have to admit there has been more resistance than usual lately.)

Last week's goals:

Christmas:
Knit 10 rows on the partridge.

Knitting:
Knit 6 rows on the mustang and its accessories and knit 13 rows on the Maximum Scarf.
{I did knit 1.5 Valentine bears for our party treat bags. :)}

Parenting:
Spend 15 minutes taking more notes from Raising Happiness.
Make sure Nick makes using the big toilet (instead of the potty) a habit. {We got rid of the potty!!}
Work on Xander's "turtle steps" toward not whining during school.
Read aloud at most breakfasts, lunches, and dinners using the books from my 2013 read-aloud books list. (Pippi Longstocking, 7 Habits of Happy Children, The Adventures of Laura and Jack, The Indian in the Cupboard...)
Do assessments this week with Xander.

Marriage:
Work on my own "turtle steps."
Consistently get up early with Erik so we can both work on our fitness plans.

Personal:
Continue making a to-do list each day and prioritizing it. Do the hardest or least fun thing first.

This week, I will have to scale back my goals. 

Sunday, I did that long race and recovered from it, as well as doing the grocery shopping for the week. Nick got a face injury jumping on bleachers while waiting for me to finish the race. Erik spent all that day at urgent care with him, where he got five or six stitches. 

Yesterday morning, we went to preschool and the play group afterward. That always eats up quite a bit of our day. 

This morning, we went to the boys' dentist appointments. 

Wednesday is our normal library story time day. 

Thursday, Xander has a dermatology appointment. 

Friday, Nick needs to get his stitches out. If we have time, we will go to the science playgroup, too.

When I realized we had three doctors' appointments this week, I knew my goals would be shot. ;)

But here they are anyway:

Valentine's Party:
Knit five or six teeny Valentine teddy bears.
Try the sliders recipe ahead of time.

Parenting:
Listen to Xander some more about his feelings about school and challenging tasks.
Read aloud at most breakfasts and lunches from our book lists.

Marriage: 
Have more than one planned episode of quality time with Erik.
Get up each morning with Erik for our fitness plans.

Personal:
Continue to work hard at my household tasks and goals in a systematic manner.
Do not denigrate myself to anyone for a week. :)

Pink Sky In Texas

At sunrise this morning, Nick said, "The sky looks like strawberry milk."

Theme Nights

We have theme nights around here.

This was the greatest thing I have ever seen. Erik spontaneously got up to dance a Muppet dance and both boys immediately followed suit.

Family Movie Night is generally on Wednesdays. I try to remember to make a dinner that can be eaten on the floor or on comfy chairs, but that's not an absolute prerequisite. We borrow, find, or rent a movie that we hope the majority will enjoy. One movie that was popular with us recently was The Avengers. During the holiday seasons, we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Sound of Music, Prancer, and Born Free. Last week, we watched the original Muppets movie. That was a big hit with everyone. Xander laughed heartily at all the jokes, whether they were catering to adults or not. This week, we watched the newest Muppets movie. That was also a hit. We loved the music. Highlights included the "man or muppet" song and Chris Cooper's rap. Again, everyone laughed, whether or not they "got" the jokes. I have to say Fozzie's farting shoes were easily understood by everyone.

Thursdays has traditionally been set aside for Erik's and my TV date. We let the kids play with a big ol' board game like War of the Ring in our room while we watch in the living room. Or they get to watch a DVD on our portable player. Erik and I have always watched those Thursday night NBC comedies together, but this season we had adopted Last Resort as our latest date show. (That was after trying Revolution and getting bored.) So, they canceled Last Resort. It was a decent show, I thought. Much better than what they are replacing it with {she types self-righteously without having seen the new show}.

Friday is sometimes Board Game Night for me and Erik. I'd like to get the kids more involved with this. Xander can play a few of our board games now. He is proficient at, in rough order from juvenile to more advanced, Candy Land, Max, Uno, Zingo, Frog Rush, Monopoly Jr., Tales of the Arabian Nights, Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, and Lords of Waterdeep. He needs guidance with the last four, but he is able to be a player in those games. Nick can now play Candy Land.

But mostly Board Game Night is a time when Erik and I can play an involved, two- to three-hour euro style board game together.

That's pretty much our schedule right now. Weekends some kind of ball game is usually playing on the TV. I used to have a knitting night each week, and Erik used to have his own night to do whatever outside of the house. Currently, we stay home.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

We have four days until Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If you count the day itself, that's five days for us to do activities related to it.

image credit

Today, we are going to look at some photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at National Geographic Kids, and read the captions to learn more about him.

Tomorrow, we will read one quote from him that mentions his own children, and look at the photo of Dr. King with two of his children. Thanks go to Children Around the World for that post.

Saturday, the boys will have the chance to color a picture of Dr. King against the backdrop of the Liberty Bell.

Sunday, we will listen to a free audio file of his "I Have A Dream" speech during lunch.

On Monday, we will bake a cake, decorate it, sing "Happy Birthday" to Martin Luther King, Jr., and helpfully eat the cake for him.

Last year, we read a picture book about Dr. King which I really liked. Xander, at five years old, got a lot out of it. It was My Brother Martin : A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Christine King Farris.

During the same week, we also read Champion: The Story of Muhammad Ali, by James Haskins. Xander liked that one as well.

We had good conversations, the type you dream about before you ever have children, after reading those two books.

I have to give credit to The Work Plan for the majority of these ideas. I pinned her post last year and wanted to do something similar this year.

This Week's Goals

Time for a weekly goals update. These were my goals for last week:

CHRISTMAS:

Put $5 into Christmas envelope.Knit 10 rows on the partridge.

KNITTING:

Finish 1 washcloth. {I just have to bind off.}Knit 6 rows on the mustang and its accessories.Knit 13 rows on the Maximum Scarf.Finish the other bathroom hand towel.

PARENTING:

Spend 15 minutes taking more notes from Raising Happiness.Make sure kids have their Morning Cards habit ingrained.Make sure Nick makes using the big toilet (instead of the potty) a habit. (Almost there!)Work on Xander's "turtle steps" toward not whining during school.Read aloud at most breakfasts, lunches, and dinners using the books from my 2013 read-aloud books list.

FINANCIAL:

Strictly stick to our budget plan. {Over on gifts and bought a book for school that we didn't budget for.}Use afternoons to do money-saving tasks on the computer.

MARRIAGE:

Work on my own "turtle steps."Starting Friday, consistently get up early with Erik so we can both work on our fitness plans.

PERSONAL:

Get up at 6:00 every day. Begin routine.Continue to make meal preparation, laundry, and training/teaching/listening to my kids my must-do priorities. (Not necessarily in that order.)Continue making a to-do list each day and prioritizing it.Attend church on Sunday.Visit the Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Google group on Sunday.Follow our schedule. Every deviation has the potential to take us off course from our goals! {We did really well on this but we deviated at times.}

Now for this week's goals:

CHRISTMAS:

Knit 10 rows on the partridge.

KNITTING:

Knit 6 rows on the mustang and its accessories and knit 13 rows on the Maximum Scarf.

PARENTING:

Spend 15 minutes taking more notes from Raising Happiness.
Make sure Nick makes using the big toilet (instead of the potty) a habit. (Almost there!)
Work on Xander's "turtle steps" toward not whining during school.
Read aloud at most breakfasts, lunches, and dinners using the books from my 2013 read-aloud books list. (Pippi Longstocking, 7 Habits of Happy Children, The Adventures of Laura and Jack, The Indian in the Cupboard...)
Do assessments this week with Xander.

MARRIAGE:

Work on my own "turtle steps."
Consistently get up early with Erik so we can both work on our fitness plans.

PERSONAL:

Continue making a to-do list each day and prioritizing it. Do the hardest or least fun thing first.

This Week's Goals

Last week I got quite a bit done, but I'm still behind in getting out our last two Christmas packages, finishing thank you notes, and putting away the last couple of Christmas items.

Here are this week's goals:

Christmas:

Put $5 into Christmas envelope.
Knit 10 rows on the partridge.

Knitting:

Finish 1 washcloth.
Knit 6 rows on the mustang and its accessories.
Knit 13 rows on the Maximum Scarf.
Finish the other bathroom hand towel.

Parenting:

Spend 15 minutes taking more notes from Raising Happiness.
Make sure kids have their Morning Cards habit ingrained.
Make sure Nick makes using the big toilet (instead of the potty) a habit. (Almost there!)
Work on Xander's "turtle steps" toward not whining during school.
Read aloud at most breakfasts, lunches, and dinners using the books from my 2013 read-aloud books list.

Financial:

Strictly stick to our budget plan.
Use afternoons to do money-saving tasks on the computer.

Marriage:

Work on my own "turtle steps."
Starting Friday, consistently get up early with Erik so we can both work on our fitness plans.

Personal:

Get up at 6:00 every day. Begin routine.
Continue to make meal preparation, laundry, and training/teaching/listening to my kids my must-do priorities. (Not necessarily in that order.)
Continue making a to-do list each day and prioritizing it.
Attend church on Sunday.
Visit the Chronicles of a Babywise Mom Google group on Sunday.
Follow our schedule. Every deviation has the potential to take us off course from our goals!

This sounds and looks like a lot! Perhaps it is, but all the knitting goals put together really only equal one task, especially because I enjoy my knitting time.

Parenting Duty Discharged

Today Xander and I finished The Hobbit. This was a big day for me. When we finished the Chronicles of Narnia and today, when we finished The Hobbit, I felt as if one of my biggest parenting duties were discharged. He has been introduced to those worlds. I have completed that task.

Xander said he liked it. Throughout, he would always ask me to read, "More, more!" He has not yet seen the movie, but after having seen it myself, I am in no hurry to have him watch it.

I am sure we will be reading these books again in the future.

Another Nickism

Last night Nick said the word "banana" loud and clear several times as he tried to tell us a knock-knock joke. I guess "babana" may be a thing of the past. But he still says things like, "I never mind," when he doesn't need help after all.

This morning we talked a bit about healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. He said, "Vegetables are a no for me. Fruits are a yes to me. Lot of fruits are so delicious!"

23 Goals for 2013

I spent most of December focusing on Christmas. I loved it. But I didn't get much else done. I've mentioned a couple of times that we only did one official week of school last month. My conclusion is that I am always going to throw myself into Christmas, so I should plan for it. This year there will be two new, very specific goal categories for me: Christmas and Knitting. Little by little, I will knit the things I want to have done by Christmas. Little by little, I want to accomplish Christmas goals so that I don't have to scramble to do everything in December. (Knowing myself, I realize I will still get busy in December, but hopefully I will have most of the important tasks completed ahead of time.)

Starting in November and going through the present moment, I read several books that changed my thinking about my goals. Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy was one of them. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker was another. I am cautiously enthusiastic about Raising Happiness by Christine Carter. I also browsed What Color Is Your Parachute? again. It's not a great fit for me right now, but there were some interesting details I gleaned from it in my, what is it, third reading of that book? I am currently reading Today Matters by John C. Maxwell, and I really like it. I don't know how much it's going to influence me in the future, but it is definitely worth the read.

Financially influential were the books Money Saving Mom's Budget and The Total Money Makeover. I had read Money Saving Mom's blog for years and The Total Money Makeover before, but this time they are proving gems as I try to put them into practice. The books go well together because Crystal Paine is a big Dave Ramsey fan.

My homeschooling goals haven't changed much in several months. Thanks to Charlotte Mason Help's Higher Up and Further In (HUFI), I have a curriculum already planned out that does not make me work all day teaching and planning but is full of quality books and subject choices. I still love this curriculum, but there is one thing that is not working for us. (Not unusual that there would be at least one thing!) Aesop's Fables, the version that is recommended and that we have, goes right over Xander's head. It is also rather negative for Xander. He feels pressured very easily and when bad things happen to people (like Icarus falling, for example), he does not reflect. Instead, he kind of panics and feels bad.

Outside of HUFI, Xander loves watching Wild Kratts for factual knowledge about animals. He really likes any kind of book for children that gives him facts that he can memorize. I've heard from at least one other person that boys can be like that. Also outside of HUFI, the Core Knowledge material works well for him. We do Singapore Math and use a lot of Spanish picture books and Oh Noah! time on pbskids.org for Spanish, among other things. Both of these fit into HUFI just fine but are not specifically listed in the curriculum. We have lots of science games, toys, kits, books, etc., that we use, board games and computer games that Xander is getting good at, presidential and state flash cards, and other materials that I intend to use during Grace Weeks.

Well, I doubt anyone has read all of that, but here are my 2013 goals as of today:

Christmas

Follow along with Rudolph Day tasks each month to get Christmas tasks accomplished.

Save up money throughout the year to fund Christmas gifts.

Save up money throughout the year for traveling to Chicago for Christmas.

Knit 12 Days of Christmas figures.

Knitting

Knit as far as I can through The Knit Stitch.

Knit 20-30 striped dish cloths for gift packs.

Parenting

Work on Raising Happiness concepts: Put on my oxygen mask first, teach mindfulness, use turtle steps to reach a big goal, make a community for my children, teach emotional intelligence, improve my marriage to improve my parenting.

Try not to move away from this area.

Continue to slowly train children in life skills a la The Parenting Breakthrough.

Continue to homeschool.

Start a playgroup for Xander once a week.

Financial

Pay off at least one debt.

Follow The Total Money Makeover and Money Saving Mom's Budget advice.

Marriage

Use Gottman's five hours a week plan to become closer: 5 minutes in the morning finding out what my husband has planned for the day, 5 minutes a day cuddling or giving friendly touches, 15 minutes or so at the end of his work day decompressing and listening to each other (couch time!), and 2 hours once a week spending quality date time.

Go outside the house on a date once a month.

Personal

Run almost every day. If I can't, use the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred video.

Try to do additional exercise, like strength training, Pilates, or just stretching every day.

Take care of my hygiene - don't leave myself for last.

Give some type of service each Sunday.

Attend church.

Cleaning

Stay fully on top of laundry, meals, and training/being there for the kids, every day.

Stick to routines that keep our floors reasonably clean, surfaces uncluttered, objects dusted, sheets changed, spills cleaned up, rooms tidied, and cars cleaned.

Try to keep cleaning tasks to less than two hours per day.